Whats the Title?

Activity Length
Approximately
30 minutes
Activity Format
Whole group

Standards
Grades K2 (Reading
Standards 5.1, 5.2;
ELD Standard 2.2)
Grades 35 (Reading
Standard 5.4;
ELD Standard 2.2)
Language Objective
Students will listen to a
short story or poem in
English and then suggest
appropriate titles.
Learning Objective
Students will be able
to identify the main
theme or topic of a story
or poem and generate
appropriate titles.
Materials
variety of short stories and poems unfamiliar to students
Procedure
1. Tell students to listen carefully while you read a short story or
poem to them. Do not tell students the title.
2. After you finish reading, ask students to think of appropriate
titles for the story or poem and then write students suggestions
on the board.
3. After generating a list of possible titles, tell students the real
title of the story or poem. Lead a discussion about why the
author might have chosen that particular title.
Teacher Tips
Reverse this activity by reading the true title of a story or poem
to the class. Students should then generate ideas of what they
think the story or poem is about.
Try this same activity with students own written stories and
poems. Ideas generated and discussions about the titles will
help students to carefully select a title for their writing piece.

Differentiating by Proficiency Level To differentiate

by proficiency
Beginning: Allow students to first discuss in their native level, see pp.
1115 for
languages and then respond in English. Blooms Taxon
omy Question
and pp. 192 s
Intermediate: Encourage students to tell more about their 4 for detailed
examples.
answers.
Advanced: Ask students to create an alternative version of the
activity.

Assessment
The following is a checklist of items to informally assess students after they complete this activity.
Students should be able to:
practice listening skills as the story or poem is being read to them
generate appropriate titles for stories and poems
participate in a classroom discussion pertaining to selecting an appropriate title

50 #50203Activities for English Language Learners Across the Curriculum Shell Education